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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 287 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 287

 Honoring the life of and expressing the condolences of the Senate on 
                       the passing of Rosa Parks.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 25, 2005

 Mr. Levin (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Frist, Mr. Reid, Mr. Obama, 
 Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Brownback, 
  Mr. Allen, Mr. Talent, Mr. McConnell, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. 
  Thomas, Mrs. Hutchison, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Harkin, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
 Biden, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Byrd, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Conrad, 
   Mr. Corzine, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Feingold, Mr. 
    Inouye, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kohl, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Lincoln, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. 
 Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Pryor, Mr. 
   Reed, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Sarbanes, and Mr. Wyden) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Honoring the life of and expressing the condolences of the Senate on 
                       the passing of Rosa Parks.

Whereas Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa Louise McCauley, to 
        James and Leona McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama;
Whereas her moral clarity and quiet dignity shaped and inspired the Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States over the last half-century;
Whereas Rosa Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, until the age of 11, 
        when she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and then 
        went on to attend the Alabama State Teachers College High School;
Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa McCauley married Raymond Parks and settled in 
        Montgomery, Alabama;
Whereas, together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the Montgomery, Alabama 
        branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
        (NAACP), where Raymond Parks served as an active member and Rosa Parks 
        served as a secretary and youth leader;
Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her 
        seat in the ``colored'' section of the bus to a white man on the orders 
        of the bus driver because the ``white'' section was full;
Whereas the arrest of Rosa Parks led African Americans and others to boycott the 
        Montgomery city bus line until the buses in Montgomery were 
        desegregated;
Whereas the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott encouraged other courageous people 
        across the United States to organize in protest and demand equal rights 
        for all;
Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern-day Civil Rights 
        Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955;
Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by Rosa Parks and 
        others resulted in a legal action challenging Montgomery's segregated 
        public transportation system, which subsequently led to the United 
        States Supreme Court, on November 13, 1956, affirming a district court 
        decision that held that Montgomery segregation codes deny and deprive 
        African Americans of the equal protection of the laws (352 U.S. 903);
Whereas in 1957, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan;
Whereas in 1965, Representative John Conyers hired Rosa Parks as a member of his 
        staff, where she worked in various administrative jobs for 23 years and 
        retired in 1988 at age 75;
Whereas Rosa Parks continued her civil rights work by starting the Rosa and 
        Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987, a nonprofit 
        organization that motivates young people to reach their highest 
        potential;
Whereas the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development offers 
        educational programs for young people, including two signature programs: 
        first, Pathways to Freedom, a 21-day program that introduces students to 
        the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement with a freedom 
        ride across the United States and Canada, tracing the underground 
        railroad into civil rights, and second, Learning Centers and Senior 
        Citizens, a program that partners young people with senior citizens 
        where the young help the senior citizens develop their computer skills 
        and senior citizens mentor the young;
Whereas Rosa Parks has been commended for her work in the realm of civil rights 
        with such recognitions as the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, the Martin Luther 
        King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize, the Presidential medal of Freedom, 
        and the Congressional Gold Medal;
Whereas Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the ``100 most influential people 
        of the 20th century'', The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan bought and 
        exhibited the bus on which she was arrested, and The Rosa Parks Library 
        and Museum opened in Montgomery in 2000;
Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' refusal to 
        give up her seat on the bus, we recognize the courage, dignity, and 
        determination displayed by Rosa Parks as she confronted injustice and 
        inequality; and
Whereas in 1988 Rosa Parks said: ``I am leaving this legacy to all of you . . . 
        to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our 
        lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without 
        courage and inspiration, dreams will die--the dream of freedom and 
        peace'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate honors the life and accomplishments of 
Rosa Parks and expresses its condolences on her passing.
                                 <all>
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